Whenever I Fall
by Miyano Ran
Summary: Ai never has to be scared... whenever she falls...a hand will reach out. More on Conan and Ai's undying friendship!


Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. ^^

More on Conan and Ai's friendship, a very short one shot, enjoy!

Fiction Rating: K

Genre: Friendship

Main Characters: Conan and Ai

**Whenever I Fall **

"Pass." Haibara Ai, the little shrunken scientist said emotionlessly to the three kids, one old surrogate father and a shrunken detective.

All of the five people frowned and Conan shook his head in dismay.

"Oh, come on, Haibara-san!" Mitsuhiko pleaded, his hands clasped together. "Why not?!"

"Don't you like to ride the Roller Coaster with us?!" Ayumi inserted.

"Lighten up, Haibara. Even I'm going." Conan said with a smile.

Haibara shook her head once more and said. "No, I'm not going, thank you for the offer."

For the past thirty minutes, the five kids and Agasa hakase were all inside Tropical Land and for the five minutes, everyone has been convincing Haibara to join them in their rides right after they ate their meals. But, Haibara never budged a bit; she was firm with her indifferent attitude. She would not ride the rides with them.

At the end, they all gave up and with a sigh, they all ran off and went to have fun by themselves. However, Conan stayed with her.

"Why are you still here, Kudo?" Haibara asked while sitting on a bench under the shade of a mahogany tree near the entrance of the theme park. "Aren't you going to ride with them?"

"Why don't you join us?" Conan asked with a smile. "It's fun!"

"You're persistent, aren't you?" Haibara said, then, standing up, she turned the opposite direction from him and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Conan asked.

She halted her slow steps and without even turning around to face him, she said loud enough for him to hear from afar. "Going to find something to munch on… like probably a tempura, dumplings… or fish crackers…"

Receiving no response from Conan, she proceeded with walking.

"You should enjoy your youth." Conan said suddenly.

Haibara stopped and turned around. "I'm eighteen." She reminded him with a bored expression.

Conan told her. "That's exactly my point. When you were young, you were just under the syndicate and you never got to experience a normal and carefree childhood. Now, it's like God has given you this second life, this second chance to experience happiness with other children who won't judge you and who like you just for what you are, Haibara. Don't waste this chance."

Haibara lowered her head, saying. "I'm afraid."

Conan's eyes widened and he took slow but steady steps in going towards her as the gleaming sunlight shone on his shinning metal external fringe of his glasses.

Grabbing hold of her shoulders with a friendly squeeze, he questioned.

"What are you afraid of?"

She was silent.

"After all this time, don't you still see me as a friend?"

The atmosphere between the two was tense, and Haibara raised her head and told him.

"Even if it was more than fourteen years ago… somewhere in my memory… I can recall… that the Black Organization captured me and my family when we were all in an amusement park…" Bowing her head dejectedly, she said. "That was the start of my nightmare… me and my sister… and my parents who died a year later… I hated going to joy rides ever since. Do you understand now? It reminds me awful memories…"

Conan was still as a sloth, listening.

"My mother, father, sister and I were riding the Ferris wheel. There were only a few people at that time because it wasn't peak season of the year. Even still, I was having a great time with Akemi-neesan. She was nine years old at that time… I was still a little girl… Those are the only few memories I remember about my parents before they died… and it had to be a terrible memory. When we were at the peak of the wheel, suddenly, a man from below fired a gunshot towards the thing we were riding on…"

This time, her tears were struggling to fall. Conan tried to comfort her with the best he could.

"Then, our ride stopped… the lights went off… it was late at night… and I was scared… I was crying. Akemi held me tight in her arms, hushing me, but she, too was scared. My parents were screaming in terror." She stiffened her shoulders as the story proceeded. "Then, a helicopter came towards us… then… Gin opened the door of our Ferris wheel. He was still very young at that time about 20 years old and he looked like a kind young man. He didn't have very long hair yet. I thought he was going to save us and I was so happy! But then… he grabbed hold of me and pointed a gun at my forehead and I started to cry, realizing he was going to capture all of us. My family was crying… other black men came and took all of them… my mom yelled out loud, but all the black men brought all four of us inside the helicopter and before the police could come to rescue, we were already inside the helicopter and we flew away… I heard them saying that they abducted my parents because they were the best scientist and let my daddy and mommy do all the dirty work."

This time, Conan lightly embraced her.

"Then… I fell asleep inside the helicopter, when I woke up… I was inside a dark room with Akemi-neesan. Then, I asked my elder sister about mom and dad… then, she sobbed, she didn't know, the black men brought us there and they took both my parents. I never saw my parents ever since… In my life I fell a lot of times before… I'm still falling into pieces until now and I will continue to fall… I'm sure."

Conan released her and extended a hand.

"I'm always here, a friend." He grinned. "Whenever you fall, I'll be here."

Haibara just stared with her eyes blinking of tears and her mouth wide open in shock.

"Take my hand." Conan said. "The past is the past. Today's the present. You can never move on if you don't learn to be brave and face the present."

"But… how?"

"You can't do it alone, Haibara." He said, still extending his hand to her.

Then, Haibara took his and smiled. "Thank you, Kudo."

"What are friends for?" He asked. "You don't need to be afraid anymore, I'm here."

Haibara smiled and nodded. "Thanks for hearing me out, Kudo."

"Of course, the bitterness of your past can never heal if you don't tell others about it."

Deep down, Conan was very sad for what happened to Haibara when she was young and for all the violence and pain she's experienced at an early age.

"Don't be scared Haibara." Conan said while squeezing her hand, assuring her.

"Shall we go?" Conan offered.

"Ah… but…"

Not even waiting for her answer, Conan pulled her and ran towards a Ferris wheel. Seeing it made Haibara sad all over again but remembering Conan's words made her stronger and made her face the present.

"Want to ride?" Conan asked. "Or… oh… maybe not this one…" He said when he remembered her story, however, surprisingly, Haibara said to him in agreement. "Yes, I want to ride it with my best friend." She said, trying to smile.

Conan raised a brow. "Really? You sure?"

"Yes. I want this ride." Haibara confirmed.

Conan grinned. "Let's get the tickets then."

_I understand her… she has gone through a lot… when she was young… she felt lots of pain… now, I'm going to make her face life… and I will make her happy. She doesn't need to worry, because… in life… if ever she falls again… I'm here for her…_

_I'm so lucky to have such a good friend… I'm not scared… because my friend is with me… whenever I fall…_

**~Epilogue~**

*Haibara's in the toilet*

"Wow Conan-kun! How were you able to convince inconvincible Haibara-san?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"That's amazing Conan!" Genta praised.

"Ai-kun's really hardheaded; I didn't think it was possible to convince her anymore." Agasa said earnestly.

"She didn't really want to come at first, how did you make her ride the Ferris wheel, Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked sweetly.

Conan laughed, thinking highly of himself. "First, there is a reason why she doesn't like in the first place, then, I found out what it was, then… tried to let her feel better and solved her fears." With a smile, he added. "I'm good, aren't I? You just need to be really understanding with her, when she knows there is a friend beside her, she'll be okay."

"Were you just talking about me?" Haibara asked with a raised brow after she came out of the toilet of the amusement park.

Conan swallowed hard. "Why are you looking at me?" He asked with a nervous tone.

"What have you told them…Edogawa? Hn?" She asked, her motions were as if her next move was to pounce and strangle him.

"Ah…eh…" Conan laughed a bit.

"Edogawa…" Haibara warned. "How many times have I warned you NEVER to talk about me?"

Haibara's dangerous eyes were also looking at Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko and Agasa and each of them made a loud 'gulp'.

There was only one thing Conan and the rest could do.

They ran.

And naturally, she ran after them.

_**The end**_

Started: 12:45 noon

Ended: 2 pm

Tine Duration: 1 hour and 15 minutes


End file.
